Connected Moments
by Z.A.G
Summary: They both thought the other had died. Now a small bar in Edge reconnects them for just moments at a time. ZackxTifa. Prompts used from Fairheartstrife's Stolen Memories Is looking for more prompts, send them in PM or review
1. Change

I don't write much anymore but I saw Fairheartstrife's list of prompts and looked through them all and decided to write one of them. Perhaps I might steal a few more of those prompts for more one-shots. Basically this is an AU one-shot where Zack survived, but has yet to learn the details of what he missed out on. The word prompt is below.

**Change:** Gone were lanky limbs on a budding form, and in their place muscle and curve made his mouth go suddenly dry.

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Having survived through six months of physical therapy after being in a coma for four months and apparently a giant calamity from the skies that Zack had not been aware of; Midgar seemed like the logical place for him to go. It had been a second home for the better part of his life and with the absence of ShinRa, he felt he needed to fulfill a promise in getting to Midgar. He hadn't expected the destruction that was at Midgar, nor did he expect to come across a place called 'Seventh Heaven' in the city of Edge. What had drove him to step inside the establishment Zack couldn't have been too sure about. Could it possibly be an old memory from the slums when he had given the very name to a carpenter looking to build a bar? Could it have been the children sitting outside of the bar, a location that, even in Zack's mind, seemed unfit to have a child wait while the parent drinks.

Zack never had very much luck with kids, the only two he's had to deal with in his life had stolen from him. One from the slums and one spunky punk from Wutai; you would think after six years he would have gotten over his worries of children. Still, he could never be too cautious so while they made no blatant reach for him or his wallet that was stuffed in the back pocket of his jeans, Zack still found himself checking to be sure it was there while he stepped into the establishment. All was safe and the children didn't make any attempt to run after him from behind while he found himself stuck at the entrance to the bar. It was a bit 'homey' feeling to him. It had that comfortable atmosphere that Zack felt was what brought people to the bar for the first time. He wasn't much of a drinker considering he had trouble holding his own with alcohol but he could see the interest it gave people to drink in such a place and make idle chitchat over the stresses and worries of the day.

Even though it was barely passed three in the afternoon, Zack could spot a few costumers scattered about the bar. Two were sitting at the bar trying to make idle conversation with the female bartender located behind the counter serving them their drinks. Three more were sitting in different tables across the bar floor. "Who left their kids out on the steps?" The words erupted from his mouth without his permission and any conversation that had been going on halted while everyone turned to look at him. Long moments passed that were simply filled with the fans running above them. The Ex-SOLDIER simply scratched the back of his head as he came to the sudden conclusion that it may have been in his best interest to have just left it all alone. He knew Midgar was in bad shape, but that didn't mean it was potentially dangerous to just leave children out on the stairs of a bar. Surely there wouldn't be anyone stupid enough to have just passed by and whisked them away. The children must have been smart enough to know that running into the traffic would have been a very bad thing.

"Um… Never mind that." He probably should have just kept himself out of bars anyway. He wasn't the type to run in and wash away his guilt, his sorrows, and his despairs through consumption. He was always an optimistic person, and he always took life to the fullest no matter what it gave him. He shook his head at his own stupidity before he turned around and made a move towards the door.

"…Zack?"

The Ex-SOLDIER stopped in his tracks however when he heard his name called out. How does anyone in the bar actually know his name? He hadn't been to Midgar in six years and anyone he did know probably died when Meteor came close to destroying all of Midgar. He couldn't pretend that it wasn't his name however, and it just drove him with curiosity to figure out who exactly knew him. He found himself turned around and he glanced around the bar at the other customers, but the voice he heard was feminine and none of the customers were women. The only woman in the establishment was the bartender.

The brunette had stepped out from behind the counter and now just stood at its end to simply stare right back at him. She knew him? Zack couldn't even faintly recall where he could have possibly met the woman to have her actually know who he was. There hadn't been any visitors in Gongaga since Meteor was stopped. "Zack Fair, from SOLDIER?" She took a hesitant stepped forward and Zack found himself taking a step back while he simply starred across the bar. Where had he seen such a face before? It almost seemed familiar to him, as if he had met her once in another lifetime.

'No… it couldn't be.' Zack found himself thinking while his brows drew close together. He could remember the destruction, the fire, and the cries of anguish; but most importantly, he could recall the heated outcry of hate directed at him by a small country girl located in Nibelheim. He all at once found his eyes dance across what used to be a fifteen year old figure and absorbed what he saw before him. Gone were lanky limbs on a budding form and in their place muscle and curve made his mouth go suddenly dry. He couldn't place the name to the face no matter how hard he tried. He could only come up with possibilities. Theresa, Tiffany, Terry, Tracy; he knew he had to be close but he also knew one important fact about the woman. She had been a childhood friend of Cloud's.

"You must be mistaken." Zack quickly choked out before he rushed to the door and out of Seventh Heaven. The children were still there, and now perhaps he understood who they belonged to at that moment and why they were there. He had more things to be concerned about, his own promises to keep that were far more important than trying to rebuild old bridges. His wallet was in his back pocket, the bar was behind him, and the path before him led towards the future.

AN- Well, that's it. It was fun to write. I'm more into the who realm of RPing rather than writing fanfics. I have a FFVII RP Site so if everyone is interested, drop me a mail and I'll send you a link. Thanks for reading! I might do more word prompts. :3


	2. Gentle

Ha ha! So I decided to write another one-shot prompt thing. But I guess they aren't one-shots since I decided that for all the word prompts I actually do use from fairheartstrife's Stolen Moments, I would set them in a connected story, simply make it a continuation. I originally was going to do the word prompt **Hold**, but decided on a different one that seemed to fit better with the scene.

**  
Gentle: **Her fingers stroked deep grooves in the thick of his hair, firm enough to stir, gentle enough to soothe.

It was a strange thing to feel like you had come back from the dead and planned to visit an ex-girlfriend only to meet the mother of said ex to inform him that she had died on a journey to save the planet. Needless to say, Zack was not thrilled to hear about that, nor was he thrilled with hearing about what had happened. That was three weeks ago, and Zack still felt like he was in the pits after getting the details; spending most of his time wandering aimlessly through Midgar. That's not to say that he hadn't done anything but walk, a man had to eat, drink, and sleep every once and awhile. Not to mention he'd need a shower because hygiene was always a big thing with Zack. He didn't spend so much time dressing up his hair each day just for the giggles after all.

By the fifteenth day since his encounter with Mrs. Gainsborough, Zack found himself in a familiar section of Edge where he had come across a fairly familiar young woman located in a place known as Seventh Heaven. It was only about 1:00 PM according to his phone but he had a feeling a place like Seventh Heaven had customers all day long. As he approached the steps he took note of the fact that the children from before weren't sitting outside like the previous time. This could mean they were inside somewhere, or they hadn't been the product of Tifa and Cloud being together. He took the first few steps up to the door but stopped himself from reaching the top. What was he doing exactly? What reason did he have to go up into Seventh Heaven? Just to see a familiar face? Or maybe it was due to the fact that the people he had been connected to in the past had been connected to the girl he had left back in Midgar all those years ago? He glanced down at his black buttoned down shirt and blue jeans as he wondered briefly if it would be worth going through explanations and a possible run-in with Cloud Strife.

He chewed on his bottom lip for a couple of moments before he settled his mind on a final decision. He would march into the bar, act completely normal, and try to find out as much as he could about everything. He reached the top step and gripped the doorknob, only to find that it wasn't turning no matter how much effort he gave to twisting it. Upon some investigations, Zack came to the conclusion that the bar was actually closed, and this revelation only became clear due to the big bold letter written on the small sing on the window that had the message 'Closed The Day' written across it. That put a damper on the whole idea that he had just come up with. Maybe it was for the best anyway; after all, what sort of weird awkward conversation would he end up having anyway? 'Yeah. Hi, I'm Zack after all. Guess what? I haven't been dead all this time. Who woulda thunk?' It just wouldn't be a very flattering conversation on his part.

Zack shook his head at the thought and gave a brief smile. Just forgetting about Midgar and heading back to Gongaga seemed like a rather awesome idea at this point. He peeked into the window of the bar just to check and see if there might be anyone inside but once he found no trace of a person he turned around. He descended one step and froze in his spot. A smile slipped across his face and froze in place as he stared down at the very same brunette that had been serving drinks to customers a couple of weeks ago. She was wearing a sleeveless blue blouse with dark blue jeans; accompanied by the brown paper grocery bag tucked to her right side with her arm. Wine colored eyes just stared with that wide-eyed deer caught in the headlights look that Zack could only image he was sharing.

Perhaps he could jump off the side of the steps and make a mad dash down the road and hope that the young woman would just convince herself that she was honestly going insane. She was seeing a man she hardly knew, who was supposedly dead, but she was seeing images on him near her bar regardless. She probably had next to no thoughts of him since the events of Nibelheim but for some odd reason, she was hallucinating. Maybe she would even convince herself that it was the long working hours and that she simply needed to take a short vacation of sorts. Would that plan work? Zack didn't doubt for a moment that it wouldn't. She'd have to be pretty insane to begin with before he turned up for Zack to hope she'd be willing to believe the insanity idea.

Silence was far worse than awkward conversations, Zack decided. He swallowed the lump in his throat before he lifted one of his hands behind his head to give his neck an awkward scratch before a word blurted out of his mouth. "Hi!" It was such a simple word, but it had come out so high pitched that Zack almost winced at the sound out of his own mouth. The bag she was holding started to show signs of falling. It slowly tipped forward bit by bit. Zack was about to hurry down the steps to be a hero and save her groceries but she ended up taking notice of the bag herself because she adjusted it before she lost any of the contents.

Initial shock worn off, her eyes blinked away from the uninterrupted stare before they narrowed and a small thoughtful scowl pressed into her lips. Slowly she lowered the bag to the bottom step before she slowly made her way up towards him with one hand outstretched. He turned at the waist slightly as if it were his only means to get away from her before she did something to him that he wouldn't like. For instance, he didn't feel like getting hit. Fortunately she didn't hit him; she just laid a hand on his chest for a moment as if his presence wasn't enough to prove his existence. It was one of those moments where you had to feel it to believe it. The lump reappeared in his throat as she lifted her other hand to his face before pressing a single finger in the center of the cross shaped scar on his cheek. Her scowl turned into something more like a frown as she moved the finger from his scar and pressed a hand to the top of his head. Her fingers stroked deep grooves in the thick of his hair, firm enough to stir, gentle enough to soothe. It almost felt like something his mother used to do with him when he was younger and he had to wonder briefly if perhaps it was part of some maternal instincts designed into women that drove them to do such things.

Against his better judgment he lifted his own hands; but, he didn't return the favor in touching her. Instead he grabbed her hands with his own and eased them off of him before someone walked by and questioned what either of their intentions was in the encounter. Being that he was a man, he didn't want to run a chance of her deciding she needed to actually touch the skin of his chest or stomach with his hands to be sure he was real or else it would simply threaten to make things extremely awkward for him. "You…" He heard the word barely escape from her mouth as a whisper. He didn't try to finish what she had started, he was pretty certain he knew what she wanted to say. You are alive? You aren't dead? You are real? There were a few different scenarios that he expected from her.

"…are standing in my way."

That of course, was _not_ what he expected her to say.


	3. Motion

**Woot, I'm averaging a new one with each new night. Doubt I'll keep this pace up very long. Anyways, again, word prompt taken from Stolen Memories by Fairheartstrife. This one might be a bit of a stretch but I'll let you all decide. Word prompt is below. And if anyone else cares to share any, just type one up in a review or message me and I'll see if I can use it. **

**Motion: **Up and back, hitch and lift, the subtle sway of hip and curve giving way to sharper thrusts and Zack slammed his shin into a barstool, vowing never to watch Tifa while she swept again.

To say Zack expected to be bombarded by countless questions would be the obvious statement of the century. Sure she had been inclined to offer him entrance to her bar upon moving out of her way. Sure she had declined his offer to carry her grocery bag which had been Zack's only hope for distraction. When he entered the bar for the second time that month, Zack expected what he was in for. He took a seat at the counter and the bartender went about placing her bag full of groceries into the back room where Zack could only assume the kitchen was. When she had stepped back into the bar floor he had expected the questions to start coming at him left from right. Again she ended up doing something that he hadn't expected, and in the end, just made him feel uncomfortable and out of place. She remained silent. Not only that, she seemed to just ignore his presence entirely in favor of sweeping the floor with a broom she grabbed from a side closet.

Should he just get up and leave? It had been a question that had been crossing his mind since she started cleaning five minutes ago. She seemed entirely too busy for him anyway, regardless of past connections. Maybe she wasn't at all surprised to see him alive and well or maybe she was choosing not to acknowledge the fact that he was alive. Zack Fair was always the man who could never understand the inner workings of women. He may have had his fair share of flirting and dating, but that didn't mean he could understand them any better than the next man. He could only just sit there watching her sweep the floor and all the while just wonder what exactly was going through her mind during the whole process. Maybe if he was lucky, Cloud would enter the scene and save him from such an awkward moment in his life. He'd rather run into Goldilocks and explain his whole 'not being dead' thing rather then sit in a room filled with just Tifa's sweeping to fill in the silence.

He pressed his lips together and stared long and hard at the brunette across the room; almost as if he were hoping she'd be able to feel his eyes on her and get her to at least acknowledge him. Glance up at him, smile at him, say a single word of recognition towards him; anything would do so long as he knew she was aware that he hadn't quite left on his own way while she was in the back. Staring at her might have worked if her back wasn't turned towards him. All he got in response for his staring was the view of her back and the sway of her hips. He wondered briefly if she was aware that she swayed her hips with each brush of the broom. Was it something that each woman did while cleaning? Or was it something that she did all on her own? He pressed his lips firmly together and tore his eyes off of her backside before he hoped off his stool. He decided right then and there that it would probably just be best if he had just left the bar rather then stick around. He started across the bar and reached the door to only be stopped by her speaking up finally.

"Almost done." She announced and Zack glanced towards her from his spot at the door. Her back was still turned toward him but he had at least gotten some sort of word out of her. He took a deep breath before releasing a sigh. At least she intended on talking to him. She wouldn't have stopped him otherwise, right? He shook his head and made his way back in the direction he had come from. He turned his head on his way there and started staring again. He tried focusing at the back of her head and imagine a face there, but gravity seemed to weigh down his sight and he found himself staring at her backside again. It was practically hypnotic. Up and back, hitch and lift, the subtle sway of hip and curve giving way to sharper thrusts and Zack slammed his shin into a barstool, vowing never to watch Tifa while she swept again.

"Okay, done." Zack wasn't sure if she had heard him hit the barstool but her timing was impeccable nevertheless. His lips cringed and rubbed his shin while he was situated on the barstool once again. Tifa made her way back towards the side closet to discard the broom she had been using. He didn't even see her use a dust pan. Did she even clean anything up or was she just using it as an excuse to temporarily escape from talking to him? He turned in his seat the moment she arrived behind the counter and looked completely oblivious to the fact that Zack had just been staring at her for the passed ten or so minutes that she had been cleaning. She either didn't pick up on it, or was used to men watching her and just simply didn't show it. Zack put his money on the latter.

"So…" Zack tried starting. He wasn't exactly sure what the heck he wanted to say at that moment.

"Want a drink?"

Zack stared at her upon getting the offer. For a moment his mind tricked him into believing that she didn't even know who he was and just offered him inside because he had been a potential customer who didn't know the schedule for the bar and what times it operated. It lasted just a moment, and that had probably been the most tranquil moments of his life, and the craziest for that matter. He must really be losing his mind over this entire thing. "Water?" He had finally answered which made him receive a raised brow from the bartender in front of him. "I don't drink." He ended up explaining.

Tifa simply nodded her head and turned around to grab a glass from one of the many that were set on the shelf below all the alcohol beverages. After giving him his water it was then she started to show signs of being affected by the strangeness of the entire situation. She probably had been feeling similar, if not the same way as Zack during the entire time but hid it better. Her thin lips pressed together and her eyes lowered down to the counter top. It was enough for Zack to pick up on, and it was enough to make him feel better since he knew he wasn't the only one that felt like a fish out of water at the moment. "You… didn't know, did you?" Pause. "About Aerith."

"I do now."

"Her mom called a week ago and said someone visited her asking questions."

"Oh." That explained the much less of a reaction upon him being on her doorstep then he had expected. She probably put two and two together when she heard about the visitor and him having stepped into her bar prior to his meeting with Mrs. Gainsborough.

"Did you come to talk about her?"

"No."

"Did you come looking for Cloud?"

"No."

"…Why are you here?"

Zack shook his head, "No I mean… I was going to try and talk about her but… I don't want to anymore."

"Sorry." Pause. "Can I ask a question?"

"Is it how I survived?" Upon the look she had given him, Zack understood. Cloud would have told somebody what had happened to him, would have let them know how he died. He would tell his childhood friend that in a heart beat. Zack, of course, couldn't know that it took a lot of time before Cloud had come out and told Tifa anything. Zack had thought Cloud's friend was just going to die at that MAKO Reactor in Nibelheim all those years ago. Apparently she was stronger then she had looked. Not many people survive an attack from Sephiroth and even less can go on ahead and say they defeated Sephiroth and saved the planet. "I chose to live." That was the only explanation he felt necessary at this time. He didn't feel like going into the details about being found by some little girl and her grandfather; get dragged across the landscape to their little hut. Be in a coma for god knows how long, only to have to go through physical therapy to get everything up and working properly again.

"Can I ask something now? It's been really bugging me."

"Sure." She offered that simple smile, and she seemed more than happy to be able to help him with something. Zack wasn't sure if he wanted to ask now because he was afraid she'd be offended by his question.

"Um… Was your name Terry?" And he was so wrong.


	4. Last History

**Ah ha! I decided to be sneaky and incorporate two word prompts into one chapter. It's because I'm that awesome, I know. Anyways, same deal, the prompts are taken from Fairheartstrife's Stolen Moments. As usual if you would like to supply me with a word prompt also, just post one with your review or message it to me. I'll probably run out of usable prompts from Stolen Moments soon. xD**

**Last: **She was the last Lockhart, the sole remaining survivor of tragedy; he was the last SOLDIER, the sole remaining reminder of her pain.

**History: **History wouldn't remember him as anything more than a statistic, but she would remember him as a hero.

Tifa Lockhart had turned from a mere spunky tour guide at Nibelheim, to an owner of an establishment designed to bring in the less than honest men surrounding the city of Edge. Sure enough, Zack Fair is a man who was walking about that very same city, and had stepped into the very establishment designed for that purpose. Did that make him less than honest like the other customers surrounding the area? Sure he had apologized for the very fact that he had forgotten what her name actually was, but it came as more of an insult towards her, he felt, because the two had shared a very traumatizing experience. You would think that in such an experience where just a handful of people survived, all those involved would remember the faces and names of the survivors. Zack had lost a friend in that ordeal, Tifa Lockhart had lost everything: friends, home, and family. Aside from a certain blond, she had lost everything that connected her to her past life. She was the last Lockhart, the sole remaining survivor of tragedy; he was the last SOLDIER, the sole remaining reminder of her pain.

It was no surprise why had declared her hatred towards him all those years ago; after all, he had lied to her back then as well. He helped Cloud hide from his friends and family when she had obviously been looking for him. Sure Zack had tried his part in making Cloud come clean, but he never did such a thing. He opted to remain hidden behind a mask, but what would have happened if he had ripped it off of him? Would Tifa have remembered Zack as the man who brought the two childhood friends together again? It was only a wonder because it was far too late for him to honestly do anything about that or to change her view of him. He had the opportunity and he had blown it. He also had the opportunity to stop Sephiroth back in Nibelheim but he had blown it back then as well. It was truly funny how things worked out in the end for him. Failed to be the hero that he had desired to be when people needed him most and then that very same man whom he failed to stop back then only reappears to almost destroy the planet.

Tifa Lockhart managed to make herself busy yet again with some of the glasses that were dirty. They were dirty in the sense that her mind permitted herself into thinking the dried water spots on the glass could be something that can be rewashed and dried away. It was a good distraction and it kept her from having to stand behind the counter only to stare at the lone occupant sitting in front of her. Zack had no objections and if even if he had any he would not have voiced them out to her. It was her bar, her home, her decision on how things worked under the roof. He had already admitted that he didn't want to talk about Aerith anymore and that had probably been the only topic of conversation the two could have shared civilly.

That is not to say that Zack couldn't be civil with Tifa Lockhart. She had told him that she hated him all those years ago but Zack knew that at the time she had been under the stress of the world crashing down all around her. It wasn't really the sincerity of the words that would make conversation seem difficult between them because she was definitely sincere back then. It was the weight of the words, the power of the words, and the history that was involved with the words they had last exchanged. When two people spoke, it often involved fishing for past information and brings it up in topic for relation of the present. The two shared no such past connection but one, and to dwell on it was to dwell on a memory that scarred more than skin deep. Did Tifa Lockhart truly hate Zack Fair at this time? The Ex-SOLDIER highly doubted it or she would have never invited him in the first place, much less care if he were alive or not. The tension between the two of them involved fires, slaughter, and much loss.

"What will you do now?"

Zack lifted his eyes from his glass of water and directed them towards Tifa upon hearing the question. She was still busy cleaning spotless glasses in the sink to actually look at him. Zack envisioned what it would be like if he hadn't been in her presence. Would she be humming while she worked? Have music playing? Or would she be doing something that would be relaxing, like a bubble bath? Where are the kids that he had seen the other day and where were were the other occupants to Seventh Heaven? Someone such as Tifa Lockhart did not seem like the type to live alone, nor did she seem like the type that would be content to live in such a large place alone. She was from the countryside, just like he was, and Zack knew that the country people had attachment to family and friends to the point of needing them nearby in order to be happy.

"Probably go home."

"Probably?"

"Probably." Zack confirmed with a nod and took a sip from his glass. He wondered if it was possible that the very few friends he had back in the days of his SOLDIER career were still around. Cissnei and Tseng were with the Turks but he didn't know anything about them or if the Turks were even alive. Kunsel could have very well died while going after Sephiroth since ShinRa had most likely sent many after the man. Had anyone he known from back then survive?

"Would you see Cloud first?" Cloud was part of his past, which was true. For a moment he thought she knew where his train of thought had actually taken him.

"Where is he?"

"I don't know." Her response was hesitant and Zack knew then that Cloud wasn't living with her like he had assumed. Had anything he assumed been correct? Where those children her own or had they honestly been one of the drunkards' in the bar that day?

"Do you live alone?" Zack found himself questioning. He really couldn't see her holding up a place on her own.

"At the moment."

Zack wasn't sure how to translate the message exactly. Was it to mean that Cloud would return? Did it mean she was expecting to move in with someone or someone move in with her? Had Cloud ran off? He never thought Cloud was stupid; oblivious maybe, but not stupid. If he did run off to get away from someone like Tifa Lockhart, then he might very well have to find him and slap him around some. Zack would have the advantage considering Cloud would be a little too busy trying to decide whether or not he was hallucinating or not. In fact, that might actually be kind of amusing for him to do. He'd have to think about that idea more sometime later. One thing is for certain; however, if Tifa Lockhart is currently living alone than those children were definitely not her own.

"Did you want me to leave?"

"No." For a moment her cleaning ceased as if the question had startled her. "It's nice." It's nice to see that he's alive and well. It's nice to have company. It's nice to no long be lonely. It could be taken in many ways and Zack wasn't about to draw one from a hat, or push aside one possibility for another.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

She turned at that and for the first time since he arrived at her doorstep she honestly looked at him. It was passed the curtains of shock and awe at his evident survival. It was passed the reminder of being connected to a time in their lives when they had both watched people be slain by a hero. "If you never saved him, I never would have found him." And she smiled which only made him mimic the action she offered to him. History wouldn't remember him as anything more than a statistic, but she would remember him as a hero.


	5. The Bum

He wasn't exactly sure what he stuck around for. Maybe a couple of days visiting her would have been acceptable but after walking into that small bar on the corner of the street two days; he found himself going back there every day. He had told her he'd go back home; a place that he had been away from for so many long years but he had failed to leave Edge. He failed to leave what was left of Midgar and all those haunting memories of being hunted by the company. Still, the Seventh Heaven was a sanctuary that set a veil over what ShinRa had created. The company may be gone but they had already left their mark on the world and it would be impossible to erase in his lifetime. It was hard to imagine that such a place like Tifa's bar could be the exact opposite of what he found when he walked the streets of Edge. Poverty, depression, anger; but there were still children playing around and filling the streets with laughter, and there were still those other people working their butts off to make an impact on a broken world.

Perhaps he truly didn't want to leave a city that had been his own for the second part of his life or maybe he didn't want to leave it behind until he had finally felt at peace with the place. Maybe it had very little to do with the city and more with just a simple bartender who held one of the last connections to his life before he had been seemingly erased from the world several years with Cloud. Their conversations were never long and more times than not they was completely dead. She probably could have questioned him relentlessly to fill in the silent gaps that his visits often held but she always seemed at peace with just standing by and tidying up her business. Despite the fact she seemed to have no intentions of questioning him, he knew it was simply because she was just waiting for him to willing offer answers without a push.

For him, he had thought she died on Mt. Nibel all those years ago and it was probably as much surprise to see her alive and kicking as it was for him. She apparently knew the story behind Cloud's and his grand escape and had been certain he had been dead. He had arrived in the Reactor on Mt. Nibel just a fraction too late before Sephiroth cut her down so in a sense, if she had died, it would have been his own fault for not being quick enough. In that respect, perhaps he was just reassuring himself that he hadn't completely screwed up that day and seeing her operate normal routine tasks was just reassuring his conscience that she is alive. While at the same time, he offered her reassurance that he is alive by visiting her bar off hours.

Somehow he had fallen into a precise schedule within a week. After his ninth visit it dawned on him that after his second visit, he had been stepping into the bar at precisely 11:30am. He wasn't sure if this had anything to do with his sleeping habits or if he was just simply allowing her some free time in the morning to prepare for her workday. Despite the bar technically being closed until 3:00pm, she never turned him away when he knocked on the door. There had been two instances when he visited that he had heard children playing somewhere on the second floor. Had it not been for the fact that he could hear the sound of their laughter, he would have assumed she might have had some sort of roommate. Other times he was certain that the only people in the bar were him and Tifa Lockheart.

As he turned the corner and made his way toward the front of the bar, his feet started to slow him down before coming to a halt. Today was no ordinary day and today he wasn't the only visitor. There was a large bike parked in front of the bar and through most of his other visits, he had never seen it before. In his mind he raced across the possibilities of what it could mean and for a moment he considered the idea of turning around to simply walk away for the day. The curiosity got the better of him and he stepped up to the bike before running a hand down the length of it. He could admire a fancy bike when he saw one; especially since the last time he had ridden one seemed so long ago. It brought him to a time full of hopes, dreams, pride, and honor. Some of those were intact today but he had to make new dreams one day since his had been ripped away. Pride he still grasped onto as well as the honor he had learned from a man who was the sole embodiment of what it meant to be a SOLDIER.

He pulled his hand away from the bike and shifted his gaze toward the stairs that led up to the bar. He was late and he wondered briefly if he wasn't the only one who noticed by now. Perhaps a regular customer or a friend had stepped into her domain and captured her time. Despite his the fact that his gut told him to simply walk away this time, he stepped forward and climbed his way up the steps and to the door. He raised his hand up to knock on the door but paused right before he struck it. His eyes shifted down to the metal knob and after he contemplated a moment he dropped his hand to instead wrap around it. A twist told him the door was unlocked and if there had been no bike outside, he might have thought that his schedule had been learned by another.

He pressed with his hand and the door opened up unhindered to reveal what was laid behind the door. His eyes shifted immediately to the bar counter where he saw one lone person sitting. Zack swept his eyes across the threshold quickly to scan for any other occupants but after he found that there were none, he stepped in and closed the door softly behind him. Today was not normal and he knew it the moment he opened the door but for the life of him, he couldn't stop his feet from carrying across the distance to take a seat next to the only occupant in the bar.

"You're late." Tifa commented easily from her stool. She lifted her chin off the palm of her right hand to spare him a glance.

"There was a bike outside."

"He's here."

It took Zack only a moment to realize exactly who Tifa was talking about and as a response Zack shifted uneasily in his stool. He had not expected to run into Cloud so quickly, but he had assumed it was inevitable if he continued to visit Tifa. Since she told him that she had no idea where he was and that she was currently living alone, he had assumed he'd be safe from more awkward moments for awhile.

"He's asleep now." She said when he didn't comment. She must have been able to decipher what his thoughts were. Most likely years of bartending gave her the uncanny ability to read the slightest twitches in her customers to figure out if something was wrong and to lend an ear. "He needed a place to rest. He'll be gone again in a few hours."

The way she was able to just state it out so casually told him that it was not an uncommon occurrence for Cloud to come and go. It also told him that she had probably dealt with it long enough that she had just become indifferent over it. Still, he could not help but notice the way she continued to stare off at nothing, much like he usually did on his visits. It led him to believe that she may not be completely okay with Sunshine's coming and going. Maybe Cloud would stay longer if he knew that his not so dead friend was visiting his childhood friend. Maybe it would just make Cloud leave more quickly. Maybe if Zack walked up to the room and woke Cloud up the man would simply be convinced he was still asleep. Zack had to wonder if Cloud would be able to fool himself enough to think that.

Although at the moment he was more concerned with the woman at his side and the way she looked so bummed. "Did you want me to go?" He probably should have followed his gut.

"He won't be awake for a couple of hours."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"Where have you been staying?" The question was out of nowhere and for the first time Zack had to sit back and simply stare at Tifa in response to a question. He watched as she straightened back up in her stool and turned fully toward him. Her head tilted to the side slightly and one brow quirked at him. The expression on her at the moment washed away any beliefs Zack had about her being depressed.

"Why?"

"Do you have a job?" The question made him wonder if she was under the impression that he had turned from SOLDIER to a bum. He had thought in the beginning when he started visiting she'd bombard him with questions but not ridiculous ones.

"No…"

"What do you live off of?"

"What I have left." She gave him a look and he immediately knew what she was wondering. He opted to save her the trouble of asking, "It's not much."

"Where have you been staying?" She repeated the question from earlier and he had to lift one hand to scratch his arm. Her unwavering gaze weighed heavily on him and embarrassed him in such a fashion that a child would feel after being caught with their hand in the candy jar.

"I alternate between camping and paying for a room." Maybe he was a bum and it was only under her heavy gaze that he finally realized it.

She let out a breath and the sound made him think she was annoyed or disappointed. She turned back around and propped her chin up on her hand again. She was back to half paying attention to him and he was only left to watch her linger around in her own thoughts. This only left him alone to a self reflection of what he was actually doing with his life at the moment. He couldn't very well continue to do what he was doing much longer. He had no means of income and he certainly didn't have a hefty amount of gil stashed away someplace. He wasn't sure if he planned on going home soon or if he planned on sticking around longer but if he wanted to stay he had to think about getting—

"-a job?" When he turned his gaze back to Tifa he could only stare at her. It must have been evident on his face that he hadn't caught what she had asked him because she said it again. "Do you need a job?"

Zack frowned at that and considered for a moment. He's certain she felt pity for him at that moment. Perhaps still pity over the fact he had just found out about Aerith recently or about finding out he was just roughing it out in the country some nights. Maybe she felt the need to save the world one bum at a time. Still, he didn't want to just get a job just because someone noticed he was in trouble before he did. On another end of the spectrum however, it would be convenient just to be handed a job without going through the task of searching for one. "Maybe I do…" Some part of him considered the thought that Tifa just wanted to keep him around longer because she was lonely with only have the occasional visit from a certain somebody just for the use of a bed. He supposed it could worse however, as it could have been a situation where Tifa was involved with the bed too but at the same time, Zack wasn't a hundred percent sure that it wasn't the case. He was a hundred percent sure that he didn't want to know that information however because he'd like to think he taught Cloud better than that.

"Here." Zack broke out of his stare and glanced down at the thing Tifa passed toward him. It was a newspaper.

"What's this?"

"The classifieds." She answered. He couldn't be certain but he could swear he saw a hint of a smile twitch across her lips. If not that, he certainly picked up on the amusement in her voice.

Well there you have it -an update. It took a long time yes? Why? Because I have no prompts! This update is prompt-less. Someone did request Cloud in this chapter so I snuck him in there. Anyways, thank all the lovelies for reading and reviewing thus far. And do feel free to send me sentence prompts either in a review or you can PM it to me just as easily.


	6. Getting Hammered

What happened?

It was definitely the question of a lifetime, Zack had to admit. Its not like he didn't have an answer but it wasn't exactly an easy explanation. He had started out the morning a little bit differently and had actually started his first day of work. He had taken Tifa's advice from a couple of days ago and looked through the classifieds to find himself some sort of job that was being offered. Being that he was an ex-SOLDIER, and a First Class one at that, he had figured he had obtained all the necessary skills required to do any sort of job out on the market. It was the reason why he had wanted to get into becoming a mercenary when he first tried getting back to Midgar once upon a time ago. Boy he was super wrong!

He had been unfortunate enough (or stupid depending on how you look at it) to try his hand in the field of construction. He always wanted to play hero in the past but that had ended in tragic failure. He felt helping to rebuild the world would count for something and it would be his way to give back to the people. Did he have any construction experience? Absolutely not, but he did have experience with dodging bullets and swinging a large sword at objects that were sometimes small. Needless to say, he felt he had the whole hand to eye coordination down to perfection.

There weren't many people in the world that could top the things that he had managed to pull off in his time in service for the ShinRa company. He felt he was qualified for just about any sort of job. This was exactly why he had lied on his resume to make it appear he knew what he was doing on the field.

"I had work this morning." Zack explained as he took a seat at the stool. He always seemed to sit in the same one and again he had managed to get there at 11:00am sharp. Only difference this time was that Cloud had disappeared the first day he had returned. Zack hadnt seen him and from his understanding, Tifa hadn't told Cloud about him either.

"You're covered in..." Tifa trailed off as she arched an eyebrow at him.

"Paint. Its dry." He said to reassure her that he wouldnt be getting any paint on anything.

"What time did you start?"

"Eight."

"It's only eleven." Apparently a three hour shift was hard to believe because she pressed her lips together and simply stared at him. Possibly wondering how he had managed to get off so quickly.

"Yeah I had a few difficulties." Zack lifted a hand up and scratched the back of his head lightly as he recalled what had happened the first thing in the morning.

He hadn't thought it would be a very difficult job to do. When Zack had gotten to the location that he was told by his employer the day before, he had been told he'd be painting one of the new houses first. The first ten minutes up on the scaffolding weren't difficult, he had gotten the brush and painted rather quickly and without too much fault. He was a bit slower than the others but he didn't think he was too bad considering it was his first day. Then he reached the end of the scaffolding without realizing it. He walked right into the safety rail and lost his balance. He successfully landed flat on his back and in his sudden shock of the incident he had flailed his arms up in a desperate attempt to catch himself.

The only problem with trying to make a grab for the side railings was the fact that both is hands were full; one with a paint brush, and the other with a paint can. He didn't think too much in the heat of the moment so when he had flailed his arms up he ended up tossing the paintbrush and paint can in the air. Both successfully landed right back on top of him. This led to the sad state his clothing was in and half of his face. Both were a lovely color of brown. Hes fairly certain that some paint managed to get into his boots but he hadn't taken the time to notice.

Tifa looked as though she was struggling with the decision to pity him or to release the smile and laugh that seemed to threaten to break across his face. Fortunately she didn't laugh at him but she did have a hint of a smile as she shook her head at the ex-SOLDIER. "I see. What happened next?"

"He decided I wasn't made for painting."

"So you came here?"

"Oh no. The other guys finished that while he sent me up top to help with the roof after I wiped myself down. Can I have a drink?"

"Water?"

"I think a beer."

There was a pause as she stood there for a few moments, "You said you didn't drink."

"I'm thinking of taking it up after today."

She rolled her eyes and turned around before grabbing one of the empty classes off the shelves. She ended up filling it with water instead of what he had asked for before placing it down in front of him. Zack thanked her regardless of the fact it wasn't what he wanted but at the same time he appreciated the fact that she was keeping him from starting up drinking. When he grabbed the glass with both of his hands, Tifa's brows drew together as her eyes swirled with a mixture of curiosity and worry.

"You need something for that." She pointed out to his left hand that had a torn piece of his shirt wrapped around his pointer and middle fingers. It was bloody and in a poor knot but Zack didn't have anything better at the time. "Stay still, I'll be right back."

"I'm fine really."

"I'll be back." She stressed and Zack just let out a huff and waited. He watched as she headed out from behind the counter and disappeared through the door. He was fairly certain it led to the kitchen. He was certain not because he had peaked in there or had asked her, but because when she's made him something to eat a few times she had always brought food out from that door. It would make a lot of sense in the kitchen was nearby because she did serve food to patrons from his understanding. It would be convenient to have it so close to the bar so she can just peek in the poor or the kitchen depending on where she is and what she is doing. He could hear the sound of a door, most likely a cupboard of sorts, open and then shut. After another moment of waiting, Tifa came out holding a small white plastic box.

"Let me see it."She said after she placed the first aid box down on top of the counter.

"Honestly I'm fine."

She set her hands on her waist and gave him a look that reminded him of the days he lived under the rule of an older woman with a frying pan from hell. His mother had that same exact look every time just before she smacked him alongside the head from the frying pan. Maybe it was the trauma from growing up but he was afraid to find out what would happen if he didn't give into her demands. At least that's what he told himself as he removed his hand from the glass and snaked it halfway across the counter.

"Honestly it looks worse than it really is."

She seemed to brighten up in mood when he gave in. At least she wasn't giving him that evil look anymore. She snapped the first aid kit open and then untied the little knot that he had made before pulling off the torn fabric. Both his fingers with black and blue pass the knuckle and the finger nails were cracked and bleeding. Given the way that they look, one could easily assume that they must have hurt; however, Tifa felt obligated to poke his fingers anyway.

Zack flinched and half hissed at her in response. "Sorry." She mumbled before pulling out something to clean some of the dried blood that was on his fingers. "What happened?"

"Roofing job." She raised a brow at him and expected him to continue. "Uh... apparently I lack the hand eye coordination to hit a nail with a hammer."He gave a half laugh at that in embarrassment. He was a First Class SOLDIER with the skills that many people of the world could only dream of having. He fought countless vicious monsters, fought thousands of different soldiers, went up against guns, swords, knives, and people who fount with just their fists. When it came to him, a hammer, and a nail, he just gets his ass kicked over and over again.

"How many times?" Despite the fact that Tifa was keeping a straight face, Zack could hear the amusement in her voice that she refrained from expressing on her face.

"Four." Two on each finger actually but he figured that didn't really matter. He watched with a sick sort of fascination as Tifa finished wiping his fingers clean. She moved to the next thing on the list and that was the use of hydrogen peroxide. It burned to high hell. Zack was used to that sort of thing however, so he had the will required not to express how discomforting it felt and instead, focused on his nails fizzing up as they got cleaned from it.

"Well, they aren't broken." Tifa commented after giving both fingers a thorough look over. She took out the gauze and started wrapping them individually unlike what Zack had done with his piece of fabric.

"Gee thanks." He said once she finished her work. He held up his hand and wiggled his two fingers as if to test to them out.

"So you smashed your fingers with your own hammer." She stated and again Zack could swear he could see a ghost of a smile on her lips.

"Yeah, I got mad by the forth one."

"Oh?" She raised a brow at this, "What did you do?"

"I threw the hammer off the roof and hit my supervisor in the head." Her mouth opened up a little bit and he could already hear the question she must have been thinking at the moment, "He's alright, he had a hardhat on."

"Oh, What did he do?"

"Well, I'm here aren't I?" Zack let out a short laugh. Man today was such a bad day. Those promotional ads about learning the skills you need for life when you join SOLDIER were a total lie.

"So you're out of a job again?"

"Yep."

Tifa bent down below the counter to reach for something that was on the lower shelf. After she straightened back up she plopped the classifieds back in front of him. Zack's day just got worse.

* * *

Notes-

Alright, I uploaded this a second time since seemed to kill all my punctuation marks. I think I got them all but if not I apologize. Thank you Shinobinarku for letting me know. :3

Fairheartstrife- Glad you like the style I write in. Honestly I just write like I'm making some sort of RP post though. Lol. No Cloud x Zack interaction yet, I have a fairly good idea when it will happen and how it will play out though.

Shinobinarku- Writing in Tifas pov would be a bit difficult for me. I actually never liked Tifa as a character until up to a year or so ago so Im not certain Id be able to keep her true to character. Maybe some other time, who knows. As for the prompt, thanks for giving it but like you said its overused so I want prompts that arent exactly common. At the same time, a prompt like that is a bit too early in the game to be used anyway. Well, at least from the way I could see it being used. Zack and Tifa are on a sort-of friends type basis at the moment. :3


	7. The Invite

Truth be told, he wasn't sure why he even was bothering with trying to get and keep a job. In the past week he had gone through several different jobs that people do that seem so easy but still he managed to get fired from every single one. It wasn't like he was picking jobs that required skill in a certain trade either because he had gone so low as to try being just a cashier at a shop. It was a job that most teenagers take and have no issues with whatsoever and basically a good employee would be the one who was pleasant to the customers. Of course, there was a limit to how pleasant one can be apparently.

Zack had a habit of talking to people a bit too much because he always enjoyed conversation and always enjoyed meeting new people as well. Of course, that's not to say that he wasn't doing his job because he would still ring up orders. It was the process of taking the gil and counting out change that he had a problem with because he never seemed to pay much attention to it. He'd always place too much attention on the customer rather than his actual job. Needless to say, after two days of working as a cashier and having lost nearly one hundred gil in those two days combined, his boss didn't feel like it would be a good idea to keep the ex-SOLDIER on the job. Zack was under the impression that the man probably thought he didn't know how to properly do math.

That had been the latest job he had and by now it was the longest one he had managed to hold onto. He had actually taken a job as a road worker because the roads in Edge needed serious repair. His job was a simple there too. All he had to do was stand by the truck and wait for the signal for him to release the cement. The signal was one of the other workers waving at him considering no one could really hear each other unless they stood next to one another with the jackhammer going. Unfortunately, waving a hand is something that can show up without meaning to. What Zack had mistaken as a wave was merely someone swatting at a bee that had been flying by their face. Of course, from Zack's vantage point at the time he had just took it as a wave for him to release the cement. He pulled the lever and it poured out of the truck and right onto several other workers, including his supervisor.

It didn't matter that Zack had received a false call from another person so he ended up getting fired from that mishap alone. Apparently it involved more with the mess that was created and the loss of money because of the cement not being able to be used at that point. He didn't much like that job to begin with so he didn't really count it as a loss. Still, it had been a job, and it almost looked like he had it considering he lasted the entire day without a large mistake like that.

At least, that's what he had been explaining to Tifa about his recent jobs for the past half hour or so. She didn't really comment on any of the things he said and continued to work behind the counter. She had a notepad in one hand while she scribbled things down in the other. He wasn't even sure she was listening to him considering she gave no outward appearances of doing so while she continued with her inventory work. Sometimes his visits were like this; however, he would talk and she would give the appearance of not paying attention. He learned the last couple of times that were similar like the one he was in today that she was still paying attention. If he were to ask her what he had just said to her, she would be able to tell him word for word what he had told her. He just assumed it was just a skill she picked up with having to hear several orders from different customers at the same time. Multitasking was a trait that was needed to run your own business.

Based on the cashier job he had, he would have to say he wasn't the greatest when it came to multitasking. It's funny when he thought about it because when he was on the run with Cloud many years back, he had talked about starting his own business with the blond. He supposed that probably would have been a big flop if he were the one in charge of it all. Hell, Zack wouldn't be surprised if he wouldn't have even been able to get a business started in the first place. Unlike Tifa who was well organized, sharp minded, and multitasker extraordinaire – it wasn't hard to believe that she has managed to maintain a healthy business all this time.

"How come you aren't opened in the morning?" It wasn't that he truly cared that she didn't have her bar opened. It was sort of a blessing in disguise for him because that's when he showed up – while other patrons are unable to do so. Still it was something he was curious about and he had run out of things to talk about concerning his adventures of job hunting.

"Usually it's spent getting Marlene and Denzel ready for school." She answered after she had to stop and think about what he had asked. Apparently she hadn't expected him to get her into an active participant of the conversation.

"Oh…" Zack scratched the back of his head and thought about whether or not that should have been a logical answer or not. Should he have figured that out on his own or was he stupid for asking? "So… Are they usually gone before I show up then?" He actually hasn't seen any kids in the bar except for that first time he had found the place.

She stared at him for a few moments and Zack couldn't even begin to imagine what was going through her head while she was doing so. She tilted her head to the side slightly and Zack started to wonder if he had asked another silly question. It wasn't really his fault that he didn't have much else to use to start a conversation with. "It's summer… they don't have school for another month."

Zack would have pointed out the fact that he wouldn't know that because he had been homeschooled by his mother until he left for the academy. He would have mentioned it if it would have helped his case any but even someone like him, who hadn't stepped into an actual public school knows that during the summer kids are running around freely and happier than ever since they don't have to go to classes. "So… they just head out real early?"

"No." She sighed lightly before placing the notepad down on the counter. She hunched over the counter as she rested her cheek on one hand that was propped up by an elbow. "Barret is using up his vacation time this summer so he has them most of the summer."

She didn't look too happy about it and Zack just decided it was because she missed them. Then again, she could have very well been lonely without the kids around and Cloud gone for days or weeks on end. Actually, Zack hadn't heard anything about Cloud for two weeks now. "Barret is Marlene's dad right?" She had said something along those lines in the past when he asked about the kids. He just couldn't recall if it had been Marlene or Denzel that belonged to Barret.

She gave a nod of her head before picking up her notepad once again. She turned her back and started looking through her bottles once again. Zack glanced down at his glass of water and stared at it as he tried to come up with a different topic of conversation. Sadly, he fell short on ideas. Unfortunately, he didn't need to come up with something because Tifa decided at that moment to speak up. "So…" She drew off the word and Zack glanced up in response to pay attention. She still had her back to but at least now she seemed to be in more of a mood for conversation. "…how long have you been sleeping outside?"

It was a moment where everything seemed to freeze in place and the world stopped. The sounds outside seemed to deafen as Zack's brain tried to come up with an appropriate response. Truth be told, his mind seemed to freeze at that moment and for the life of him, he felt completely lost. He knew what she was talking about- what she was questioning, but he couldn't figure out exactly how she would actually know about that. Zack responded with the first logical thing that registered from his brain to his mouth, "Huh?"

"In that tent… the one setup in the old rundown parking garage. That structure isn't safe by the way."

"Uh…" She still didn't turn around which sucked for him because he would have given anything to see her face to help him know what she was thinking at that moment. Finally he gave a short laugh and patted the back of his head, "Wow… how do you know about that?" He hadn't actually mentioned his sleeping arrangements to her. It's not like he wasn't used to sleeping in a tent. He did it for a vast majority of his military career, that or barracks, which wasn't much of an improvement.

"I was coming home from the store the other night when I saw you."

"You followed me?" He couldn't help but sound amused at that. He didn't think Tifa was the type to follow someone home. "A simple 'Hello' would have been better you know."

"I was… curious."

He pressed his lips together in a thin line and noticed that despite having her back turned to him; she hadn't written a thing since she started this conversation. "Um… yeah…" It was actually embarrassing now that he thought more about it. It wasn't like he was an unclean hobo or anything. He still managed to get himself cleaned up and all that. "I guess… about a month or so."

He heard her sigh although it sounded a bit angry to him. If that wasn't sign enough that he was in trouble, the fact that she turned around and glared at him with her hands positioned on her hips in 'angry mom mood' certainly got the picture across for him. It was a look he had received countless times from his own mother when he was younger after he had done something stupid. Like that time he decided that a deadly snake would make an awesome pet to bring home to show his mom – whom was deathly afraid of snakes and he didn't know until that point.

"Uh… what?" He wasn't sure if he should have even spoken up at all.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Yep, Tifa was certainly annoyed and Zack wasn't sure how to deal with it or why she was annoyed to begin with. To be honest, he's never encountered her annoyed. She's always been pretty calm for the most part - even when he first sort of seemingly appeared from the grave. "You can't just live out in a tent."

Why does this seem like a lecture he would get from his mom? "But I'm fine." He replied back to try and affirm her that everything was alright with him.

"No… No you're not fine. Would it have been too much to ask for help?"

"No… but I wasn't looking for help. I mean… I don't really need it. I'll find a job soon enough." He tried his best to give her the infamous Fair Smile that warmed the hearts of dozens of women back in his time of SOLDIER. Sadly, it either died over the years or Tifa was immune to his charms.

"Great, until then you can take Cloud's room."

"Wait… what?" Zack backtracked for a moment. She was offering him a place to stay? She was offering him to stay with her? In Cloud's room? What if Cloud came back? Worse yet, what if he came back and stepped into his old room while Zack was sleeping in his bed? He would probably think some bum broke into his house and he'd attack him. "I can't do that."

Tifa arched a brow in response and the corner of her lips upturned slightly as she looked at him. "Really? As far as I'm aware this is my place and I can give a person a room and kick out anyone I want at any given time."

"But uh…"

"You can start tonight." She turned back around with her notepad, "Just be aware that this place gets busy and can be opened until two in the morning. It's loud sometimes so sleeping early might not be easy."

"But… I can't take a room for free…"

"Oh I fully expect you to pay rent. It's two hundred gil a week."

Two hundred gil a week was a lot of money for someone who didn't have a job. He wasn't sure how she expected him to pay that money when he couldn't stay at a single job long enough to make a decent amount of money. In fact, out of all the jobs he's done in the month, he probably only earned two hundred gil. The whole idea of him moving in was just completely crazy. Then again, it would mean that he would have a bed, and a bathroom, and a place to clean up daily which would be a plus. He wasn't exactly sure how this was supposed to work though. He'd probably jump awake with every car that passed by the place during the night because he would think it's Cloud and then the next moment he'd be hurling himself out the window whenever he heard footsteps in the hallway.

"But um… won't the kids find it weird?"

"They won't be around for three weeks."

So he had three weeks to get a steady job and move out. He really wouldn't want to make things awkward for Tifa and her family. "Um… what about Cloud?"

If that question affected her any, Zack couldn't tell because she didn't pause in her work or bat a lash at the question. She gave an easy and smooth response that was honest and straight to the point, "He's never around, why would he start now?"

The ex-SOLDIER felt a sour taste in his mouth at the response. It was true but Cloud did stop by occasionally; although it seemed it was only when he was in the neighborhood because of a job. Still, she didn't have to just rent out a room for him- there were always other alternatives. "You could… just give me a job, you know?" He questioned and tried the infamous Fair Smile again. Tifa paused in her work in response to give him a raised brow over her shoulder. Zack's smile dropped and he tilted his head to the side curiously, "….what?"

"After telling me the stories of your past jobs… what makes you think I risk hiring you to work around here?"

'Ouch. A simple no would have suffice.' Zack thought to himself. "So… tonight huh?" He commented. Boy was it ever going to be an adventure.


	8. Unrequited Awkwardness

It's been a little while. Here's the next thing. Hope you enjoy! Thank you to all the lovely reviewers out there that are enjoying the story thus far.

**Unrequited Awkwardness**

Truth of the matter was he didn't exactly know what to expect when moving into Tifa's bar/house. He also didn't know if he was supposed to bring all his worldly possessions to her place either that night. After the arrangements had been settled earlier in the day, Zack had left to hunt for another job. He hadn't found one that was hiring in the local area- at least he couldn't find one in the span of two hours. It only took him two hours before he gave up looking for a job. The rest of the day he went back to his 'place' and brood over the whole situation until he felt it was as good as time as any to make his way back to the bar.

He packed his clothes, gear, and anything else he deemed important up into his large duffle back before he broke the tent down. He had contemplated whether or not bringing the tent with him would be a good idea but he figured it was better than leaving it around for someone to steal. After all, he wasn't completely sure whether or not he would need it again in the future. If he didn't have a steady job in three weeks and a place of his own he'd take up living in a tent again. He sure as hell didn't want to know what it would be like living with two kids staring at him strangely because they knew nothing about him. He couldn't imagine what their first reaction would be when they moved back in with Tifa if he was still sticking around. They'd probably be confused more than anything.

It was around 9:00pm when he finally arrived at the bar again. Some part of him believed that it was going to be empty with no business. He actually sort of hoped it would be like that. Sadly, being one of the only few bars around with a bunch of hardworking men laboring all day in the sun to get the city salvaged brought about great business for Tifa. Even as he stood at the steps leading to the door he could hear all the loud talking going on in the bar and some music that he couldn't make over the talking and laughter. He was no stranger to drunk crowds because he's been to a number of bars with fellow SOLDIERs back in his ShinRa days. He knew what a bar was like during the late hours and it didn't make him feel any more comfortable about being there.

"Well… I can't just walk in now…" He said aloud to himself. Tifa was offering him a place for awhile but that didn't mean she'd want everyone in the city to know that he's staying with her. Zack knew that people loved gossip and rumors would only spread if he walked in and she showed him to a room. He chewed on his bottom lip as he contemplated going back to set his tent up for the night. It probably would have been safer to head into the bar in the morning rather than the working hours. What had he been thinking?

That's when he got another idea. He could simply walk in and act like he was a customer. Tifa would see that he was there but she would be too busy working. That and she would probably prefer to wait for all the other customers to leave before showing him upstairs rather than making some big scene about it. 'Sometimes I amaze even myself.' Zack thought to himself. He wasn't going to walk in with a tent tossed on his shoulder though. He dropped it off on the side of the building. He'd bring his duffle bag in just because it'd be stupid to trust it's safety out in the streets where anyone could walk up and take it.

With the plan firmly set in his mind, Zack made his way up the stairs and into the bar. It was a smoke-free bar, that much he knew right away because he wasn't immediately hit with a cloud of heavy smoke. He safely assumed this was in practice at Tifa's bar because she was raising young ones and probably felt it was better to take out any harmful fumes that could get to them. Nevermind the fact that they sleep above a very active bar. It made him wonder how the kids got enough sleep during the night for school when it was in session.

It was loud but not blaringly so. He washed his gaze across the crowd of men. Some men he thought he recognized but couldn't figure out from where or figure out a name to go with some faces. He'd been encountering so many of the local laborers around the city that he couldn't be expected to remember them all. He let the duffle bag on his shoulder slide off and simply allowed it to hang loosely in his hand at his side as he headed across the floor. He made his way to the front counter just as someone was cleared out and left a single stool open. He didn't hesitate to take the seat and dropped his bag at his feet as he waited for Tifa to come around and take his order. At least he had some gil that he could spend so he would actually appear as a customer. Nobody paid him any heed yet.

"I was wondering when you were going to get in." Tifa commented as she filled up a pitcher for a customer. Apparently she had managed to spot him out of the crowd. Zack supposed she better have a keen eye for new appearances to make everyone served and happy. "Go settle in. Upstairs, second door on the right."

"Uh…" He felt like eyes were watching him but when he glanced around no one really paid any attention to him or the news. "Okay…" He slipped off the stool, grabbed his bag, and made his way up the stairs like he had been told. He felt a bit uneasy but again, nobody really paid him much attention as he made his way up the stairs. The noise died down a little by the time he reached the top and he followed Tifa's directions that led him to the door he was told to go into.

The room he entered was empty for the most part. Tifa had said it was Cloud's old room but Zack couldn't tell by just looking at it. There was a bed with neatly folded sheets positioned in the center of the wall. A dresser on the other end that had nothing on top of it. Zack suspected that if he opened the drawers he would find them completely empty as well. The walls were bare and completely void of pictures or posters. It looked more like he was moving into an apartment for the first time that hadn't been used for awhile.

"Well… he doesn't stick around so why would he have the place filled with his things?"

"Actually I removed his things this afternoon."

Zack felt like he jumped out of his skin before he whipped around to see Tifa standing at the doorway. "Holy crap. Give a guy some warning next time." And then as an afterthought he asked, "Shouldn't you be working?"

"Just making sure you didn't get lost along the way."

"Uh…" How should he go about saying this? "Sorry if I came at a bad time and made things seem… awkward."

She raised a brow at this, "It's nothing new to the regulars. I'm constantly lending a room for my friends."

"Oh." That would explain the absence of stares. He thought they were just being discreet about it. Now he just felt like an idiot.

"Feel free to unpack." Her gaze shifted to his dirty duffle bag and lingered there for a few moments before she spoke again, "There's a washer and dryer downstairs you can use to… if you need to." She turned and started to head out.

"Where's all of Cloud's stuff?"

She was down the hall when she responded but he could make out her nonchalant reply rather easily. "I threw it all out." She had responded.

"Oh."

He wasn't sure how to respond to that or if he was supposed to respond to that. He could only translate the meaning behind those words as one thing. She threw _Cloud_ out. Maybe even permanently. Zack had been a bit busy hunting for a job these past few weeks but he could sense her displeasure for awhile. It wasn't really any of his business so he hadn't really questioned her on it too much but he now he could assume she was tired of dealing with it all.

Zack let out a sigh and shifted his gaze to the ceiling. He won't need to be hiding under the bed or jumping out of windows anytime soon by the sounds of it. "Cloud… you're an idiot."


	9. Old Flames and Cookies

He had expected that sleeping in Cloud's old bed in his old room, not to mention in Tifa's home would be a bit too awkward for him to settle in and get some rest. He usually had trouble sleeping in hotel rooms on the first night because of the unfamiliar atmosphere. A habit that he cursed every time he was shipped someplace different during his SOLDIER years. Strangely enough, the bed was comfortable enough that he had little trouble sleeping that night. He suspected it was because the bed was a blessing compared to sleeping on the ground inside the tent he had hitched up for a few weeks. If Cloud's stuff had been all over the room he probably would have felt too awkward to sleep.

Tifa was up and out of the bar by the time he had gotten up that following morning. He wasn't a late riser, but Tifa seemed to always be working - late to sleep and early to rise to run off to her adventures of the great outdoors. It's probably what someone should expect of someone running their own fulltime business. Zack surmised that she probably had to restock some things after the first night because the activity in the bar had been heavy. He had used the time alone at the place to clean his clothes in the washer and dryer that she had mentioned before and took a long hot shower afterwards. It was rejuvenating to have proper facilities readily available for his use.

He had left the place before Tifa had gotten back and stayed out for the entire day job hunting only to turn up empty handed. By the time he had arrived back at the bar it had been open and flooded with patrons already. When he entered, his host pointed him toward the kitchen and informed him that he was free to make himself something to eat which he desired. He had taken her up on the offer despite feeling guilty and a bit of a burden at that but had nothing to offer in exchange for her hospitality at the moment. When he finished he returned to his room and remained there until he fell asleep several hours later.

This process had pretty much become routine for the next four days of his stay. Tifa would be out of the house before he woke up despite the fact he would wake up earlier from getting to sleep sooner. He would head out before her return and he would return when the bar was open. Him and Tifa spoke very little since he moved in. In fact, the two of them spoke even less compared to when he was living out of a tent. It was probably because he stopped going back to the bar at almost 11:00am on the dot every morning since he was there when he woke up. In truth, he felt useless sticking around the bar so he could only hunt jobs down in hopes of landing one in order to at least pay the weekly rent she said she was going to charge him.

Although he had a feeling she wouldn't hold it against him if he couldn't come up with the money. Just like he had a similar feeling that told him that she might not accept the money even if he did come up with it.

The fifth night happened to fall on the day Tifa had off and Zack was determined to show his gratitude someway. He had been in the kitchen working on dinner. Tifa assumed that he was making himself something but in all actuality he was whipping something up for the both of them while she was doing something in the bar. Based on clipboard she had been carrying when he spied on her, Zack assumed she was doing some sort of inventory. He had seen her do it before when he used to drop by in the mornings before he moved in.

If there's one thing Zack feels confident in it would be his cooking. His mother had been strict when he was growing up. She always had something to say about working hard and learning how to properly care for a family. She had a big heart despite the fact that she used to beat him over the head with a frying pan anytime he would get out of line. He'd spend a lot of time with his mother in the kitchen helping her cook.

The funny thing about his cooking is probably the dishes he's used to cooking. Gongaga was a backwater town that had no connection with traders. They also didn't have domestic livestock for their meats. This gave the dishes in Gongaga a rather _exotic_ quality. Zack knew five different ways to prepare and cook a rabbit. Three different frog dishes, two methods of cooking snakes, turtle soup, squirrel roast, and a groundhog stew. Spices and herbs consisted of anything Gongaga had to supply them. Wild carrots and wild onions were plentiful in the forests, as were cabbages. A variety of berries were able to be used as well provided you didn't pick any that are poisonous. Salt and pepper was like fine dining when he shipped off to Midgar to join SOLDIER.

Needless to say, the dishes he used to cook in Gongaga are not something he's going to prepare and serve to Tifa and himself tonight. He remembered Cloud told him Nibelheim was a backwater town and Zack had visited that town many years ago. Cloud hadn't lied but when you come from a town that didn't even have electricity, your definition of 'backwater' is drastically different. Still, Zack loves his hometown despite everything it lacks.

He had been working in the kitchen for two hours. He had found a recipe for a roasted chicken in one of Tifa's cookbooks yesterday. He had modified the recipe a little just so it wouldn't be completely out of the book. He didn't want to try experimenting too much because his tastes were probably a little bit too different for Tifa despite how long he had lived outside of Gongaga.

When the dinner was finished, he set everything out on the table, along with two plates with a set of silverware on the opposite sides of the small table positioned in the kitchen. He looked at his handiwork, gave a nod of approval of it, then proceeded to make his way toward the bar. He poked his head out and found Tifa right where he had last seen her. Eyes trailing down the lines of bottles and occasionally writing a note down on her clipboard.

Zack cleared his throat to grab her attention. He had to do it twice before she finally deactivated 'workaholic mode' to look over at him. "I cooked dinner." He said and slipped back into the kitchen. A moment later he poked his head back out, "I cooked for you too." He decided to clarify himself in case it hadn't been obvious.

"Oh, you didn't have to do that." She responded. She sounded surprised but she smiled at him to know that he appreciated the effort he went through. Zack waited at the doorway and didn't move until she placed her clipboard down and headed toward the kitchen.

Zack untied the red apron he had on and tossed it on the counter before Tifa entered the kitchen. "Oh." He heard her say. He grinned before moving to a chair and sliding it out for her. Another thing his mother beat into his school as a child is how to properly treat a lady. Even something so simple as holding a chair out for a woman always seemed important to his mother.

"This looks… nice." She seemed at a loss for words.

"Not what you expected?"

"Honestly?" There was a pause before she answered. "No."

Maybe he should have been vaguely insulted by her honesty but he found it more than a little amusing. He still stood there with his hands on the chair. After a moment Tifa finally seemed to catch onto what he was doing before she awkwardly made her way to the table before taking a seat with a quiet 'thank you' escaping her lips.

"Don't worry, I didn't ruin anything." He was just joking around as he took his seat.

"No… but that chicken was going to be on order for tomorrow night."

"Uh… really?" Panic crawled its way into his chest.

Tifa flashed him a smile, "No. What would I do with one chicken?"

Now he just felt stupid. What _could_ she do with one small chicken? It's not like it would be enough to provide meal for several patrons. "Ha… yeah. That's what my thought was." Actually he just saw it in the freezer yesterday and decided that he could probably make an awesome dish with it. He hadn't even thought that it could have possibly been for patrons.

"I keep supplies for the business in a different room." She seemed to have sensed his thoughts at that moment.

"How do you do that?"

Tifa laughed a little before raising a brow at him, "You were starring mighty hard at the chicken."

"Oh."

They set out filling their plates in silence for the moment. It wasn't uncomfortable or tense. Zack was relieved that she was pleased with the dinner and didn't automatically shun the idea of eating something he prepared. She did say several days ago she wouldn't trust him to work in her bar after the craptastic job he's done at other employments.

"Oh! You know what this needs?" She didn't wait for his response and was out of her chair in an instant. Zack just held off on starting to eat despite his stomach reminding him that he's hungry and there's food right in front of him. Proper manners damned him to be patient however.

Tifa left the kitchen and returned shortly after with a bottle of red wine. Zack arched a brow upon seeing it but didn't comment as she pulled out two glasses from the cupboard. "Fine wine for a fine dinner." She said.

Zack wasn't sure if she was trying to be funny or if she was complimenting him despite the fact she hadn't tasted the meal yet. He decided to just stick with the latter and simply nodded his head dumbly as he watched her poor two glasses, one for each of them. He wasn't much for wine. Then again, he wasn't much for any sort of alcohol. He drank on very rare occasions but he wasn't much of a drinker. If he were perfectly honest, and wanted to risk losing some of his masculinity, he preferred the fruity and sweet drinks. In other words, he was a 'girlie drink' type of guy.

Not that he would tell anyone that.

Especially not someone he was currently living with who could probably hold their liquor ten times better than he could.

Still, manners taught him not to turn down what was provided. "Thanks." He said once she was settled in her chair once more.

His eyes drifted to his plate once more. The chicken, sliced potatoes, and steamed broccoli had waited long enough.

"This is good." Tifa complimented after several samples.

"Surprisingly so?" Zack joked.

"Honestly?" Came the familiar response. "Yes."

"Who do you think has been cooking for me all this time?"

"I didn't think you were preparing food for yourself at all while living in a tent." She paused in her eating to rest one hand on the side of her face with a tilt of her head.

Zack shuffled in his seat. _'She thinks I was fishing through garbage.'_ He resisted the urge to inform her otherwise but felt that making the topic actually be brought up would make it seem even more plausible that he would do such a thing.

"I happen to cook quite well." He said with as much pride as he could muster despite what he was sure she thought.

"Don't let one meal go to your head." She smiled to let him know she was just teasing him. If he had a retort, he didn't get a chance to come out with it because Tifa decided to change the topic. "Did you find a job yet?"

"As a matter of fact I did." He gave a brief nod, "Got paid fifty gil to clean out an old woman's chimney. She gave me cookies too."

"I hope you're joking."

"Honestly?" Zack used to pay her back with. "I'm not saying." '_The cookies weren't a joke but the gil was.'_

"Thank you for the dinner, you really didn't have to." She changed the subject on him again and he was greatly appreciative at that as well.

"I'm the one who should be thanking you. Besides, you act like no one has cooked you something before." He really was just teasing but based on how silent she fell and the way her eyes drifted to an unfocused region of the table, it made him think otherwise. "Wait… really? Seriously? Not once?"

"Marlene can cook things but I'd prefer her not to do it without my supervision. She's still young."

"And…" He wasn't sure if it was safe to bring up the name.

"I don't think Cloud knows how to cook." Her reply was flat. It sounded more like she was speaking of the weather rather than talking about her ex. If Cloud really was an ex or could have previously qualified as something before being thrown out that would turn him into an ex. Needless to say, Zack wasn't clear on their relationship or if there had been one beforehand. He just assumed.

"Can I ask you a question?" She suddenly proposed. She was playing with her food now more than actually eating it.

"Uh yeah."

"It's personal."

"It's okay."

"It's about Aerith."

Zack wasn't sure if he winced or not but he gave himself credit for not choking on the chicken he had just swallowed that instant. He waved his hand out in front of himself as he regained his bearing from _almost_ choking. "What about?"

"How'd you two meet?" Zack arched a brow at her and wondered what possessed her to even ask a thing. "I'm just curious. You were working for ShinRa and she said ShinRa was always spying on her."

"So you… think I got involved with my work?" He found it funny just thinking it.

"No…I imagine the spying would be done by personnel who excelled in that field. But I am curious."

Zack leaned back in his chair and allowed his thoughts to drift back to a time when everything was more chaotic and a lot less simpler. "Well… I was chasing down SOLDIERs that defected from ShinRa. Tracked them down in the Upper Plate. I er… lost the fight and ended up falling down the slums. Crashed through the church and pretty much ruined Aerith's flowerbed in the process. I think I thought I died. It's hard to believe that a person could survive that fall. If there's one thing-" Zack paused as an amused smile drifted across his lips, "I can only image what her initial reaction was with a man suddenly crashing through her church. I'm surprised I didn't give her a heart attack."

"Cloud fell through the church too."

"Really?" Zack rubbed the back of his head and felt more than a little uncomfortable with the topic of Cloud. He didn't want Tifa to suddenly burst out crying or something. He wouldn't know what to do. When it came to the whole comfort thing for women, Zack was horrible at it. He'd try to crack a joke to make a woman feel better but it always seemed to smack him in the face.

Fortunately his worries for nothing because Tifa didn't look as though she were about to burst into tears; if anything, she looked a little more than annoyed with her current thoughts. He had an inkling of an idea what those thoughts probably consisted of but he wasn't going to say anything. "Raisin." He said out of nowhere.

It was enough to confuse Tifa because she locked her gaze with his. Her brows knitted together as she tried to work out what he was talking about. "That was the type of cookies she paid me with."

It took a moment or two but his comment registered through her mind before she openingly laughed at him. He was laughing too although it was more forced than anything [i]'Ha ha ha Zack you're an idiot.'[/i] When tensions seem high and there seems to be no knife thick enough to cut through it, always make a fool out of yourself. That's the motto that Zack lived by. The two were much more relaxed and comfortable with speaking with one another for the remainder of the night as well as the next day. All they needed was a moment to finally adjust to the arrangements.

That's it for this chapter. Hope you all enjoyed it! Let me know what you think.


	10. Visitor in the Night

After the first night of cooking dinner for Tifa, it had somewhat became a ritual of sorts. He cooked dinner for the next three nights, or breakfast depending on a person's interpretation. He always cooked dinner so that it would be finished by the time the bar was closed. This meant it could be anywhere from midnight to two in the morning depending on how well the service went. The two of them would share a dinner together and she'd talk about how work had gone and he'd talk about how his job searching had gone. He'd been staying at Seventh Heaven for just over a week and he was keeping track of how long he stayed by the day.

She never asked for the first week's pay and he didn't have the nerve to bring it up. He was more focused on getting a job anyway. She had mentioned that the children were three weeks from returning to Tifa before he had taken her offer to stay at Seventh Heaven. The time limit never escape from the back of his mind, he had two weeks to get something done. It was with these heavy thoughts that he turned in for the night while Tifa cleared up the bar after declining his offer to help.

He wasn't much of a dreamer- at least having dreams he could recall. But for some reason that night he had a vivid dream about someone breaking into the establishment while Tifa and himself were asleep. To make matters worse, in his dream it was some sort of creature of a man that made his to the second floor, silent as a ghost before creeping down the hall. Instead of going for the woman, the creature was going into his room; most likely to get rid of interference for the main course. Heavy talons tore at his chest as they attempted to dig his heart out. A crooked snarl of smile traced across the dark apparition.

Zack opened his eyes and for the briefest of moments he thought he was still dreaming. That very same figure that he could have sworn he was dreaming about was leaning over his bed, face half hidden behind a cloak and eyes staring down at him with an emotion that Zack couldn't identify. It took a good twenty seconds before his brain processed what his eyes were seeing and that he was no longer dreaming nor sleeping. The Ex-SOLDIER gave out an almost girlish scream as he flailed right out of his bed and fell onto the floor on the opposite side the intruder was standing.

If his sudden shout frightened or surprised the strangely dressed man, he didn't let it show. He simply stood there starring at Zack with a look that made Zack feel like something small and feeble like an insect waiting to be crushed. "Whoa man! Breaking and entering!" Zack held his hands up with palms facing toward the intruder in case he started to attack. The light in the room wasn't on but there's enough light filtering in through the window to allow the SOLDIER to clearly make the taller man's features. Or apparel for that matter.

The man's arms were crossed over his chest but Zack could make something from the moonlight glinting off of something metal and shiny on one of the man's hand. Not to mention, to Zack, the man dressed like he came from Dracula's mansion. It didn't help that the man hadn't said a word yet and just continued to stare at the Ex-SOLDIER. No retort, no explanations, nothing.

Zack wasn't sure if he should make a move to kick the man's ass to get him out of the place. He certainly didn't fancy waking up before dawn to the sight of some vampire wannabe staring down at him while most likely thinking of the best possible way to drink all the blood out of his system. Fortunately, Zack didn't have to decide the best course of action because Tifa came running into the room. She probably woke up due to his girlish scream earlier but he wasn't going to apologize to it. She was dressed in a bathrobe which made his mind wander to if the reason behind it was the chill of the night or the lack of appropriate clothing under the robe.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry-" _No need to apologize for this weirdo_ "Vincent." _Uh… Or you could apologize to him instead._

Weird creepy guy now dubbed 'Vincent' and apparently a friend of Tifa's by Zack's genius observational skills turned his gaze to the brunette and leveled her with the same look at Zack had received. _Oh, and I thought I was being given a special treatment._ Zack wasn't sure what to do with himself anymore. It was rather awkward when you got right down to it. His biggest fear-scratch that- his only fear had been Cloud arriving at the bar and walking in on him whiles he was sleeping- Zack never thought of the possibility of anyone else doing it.

"I completely forgot about our call last month." Vincent just continued to look at her. Zack had a feeling that the two had some sort of strange understanding because Tifa seemed to know what the guy wanted to say without having to actually put words to it. "I ended up loaning the room to someone else last week."

"Um… Hi?" Zack scratched the back of his neck when he suddenly felt like they forgot he was there.

"Oh right!" That seemed to have snapped Tifa back to reality. "This is Zack. He's been staying here for the last week." _No further explanation needed? No 'this is Cloud's old friend who he thought died? Just 'this is Zack, he's here now' and everything is hunky dorey? Okay._

"Um… Sounds like I rented out your room." Now Zack just felt even guiltier about it taking Tifa's offer. "Uh… I could always like… leave again." He knew Tifa's answer even before he made the suggestion.

"No No… That would be cruel of me."

"It's not a problem." Zack gave a shrug of his shoulders.

"I shall leave." Vincent spoke for the first time and interrupted further arguments.

"No." Tifa's tone suggested there was no room for argument in that department either. "We'll just simply figure something out."

"Well Tifa-" Zack was hating himself for the idea already, "how about we just share a room for tonight?" Tifa arched a brow at the SOLDIER and Zack immediately knew he needed to clarify. "Uh… me and… Vincent was it?" He didn't receive a nod from the man, "Him and I could just crash together." _Despite how incredibly awkward it would be and the fact that it might seem a bit gay that I'm ready and willing to share a room with him after he just scared the crap out of me a few minutes ago. Yeah, this response seems like what a normal person would do given the situation._

"…Are the children here?"

Vincent's question seemed to spark an epiphany in their hostess because her eyes seemed to brighten at the question. "Of course! You can just use Denzel's bed. He won't mind." _Why didn't I think of that? Guess that would have been the smart suggestion._

"Then it's settled."

Tifa stifled a yawn, "Good then. Do either of you need anything?" Even at such a godforsaken hour Tifa was trying to play the good hostess. Zack shook his head and Vincent simply stood there. "Then I'm going back to bed. You know where the room is Vincent." She left after that to return to her room and left the two men in Zack's room.

Vincent still hadn't moved nor was he saying anything. Zack didn't move and made a conscious effort not to look away from his strange colored eyes. He wasn't sure if direct eye contact would seem like a challenge gesture but Zack didn't want to make it seem like the man frightened him more than surprised him when he woke up. Vincent seemed to be waiting for Zack to say something but for the life of him, Zack didn't know what he was waiting for.

"Uh…" Zack finally broke eye contact with the man to drift his gaze off to the side for something safer to stare at. The wall seemed interesting enough to him.

"You were SOLDIER."

Zack snapped his gaze back to the man. _Oh! So he does want to talk."_Yep! How'd you guess?"

"Eyes."

Zack slowly rolled his eyes away from the man again. Perhaps that had been a stupid question after all. The eyes were trademark sign of SOLDIER after all. "So…" Zack drifted trailed off for a moment before realizing what he wanted to ask, "…How long you staying?" He looked back toward Vincent to gauge his reaction but all Zack was greeted with was an empty room. "Okay…"

_Maybe I am still dreaming after all._

Can I just say that I love NOT bringing Cloud into scenes that would work so obviously well for him? This chapter is much shorter but that's because it's mainly to introduce Vincent into the picture. He'll be around for a chapter or two. Thank you everyone who's reviewed thus far. They are greatly appreciated, and I'm glad you are all enjoying the story thus far.


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